Bless The Lord - Psalm 103

 

PSALM 103:2
Bless The LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.

What are the benefits with which God blesses us, as listed here in Psalm 103 by David?

GOD FORGIVES US
v3 He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
v4 Who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with lovingkindess and compassion,
v5 Who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
v6 The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
v7 He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.
v8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
v 9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.

v 10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities.

v11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.

v 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

v 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so The LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

GOD REMINDS US OF OUR FRAGILITY

v 14 For He knows our frame; He is mindful that we are dust.

v15, 16 As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over, it vanishes, and its place remembers it no more.

GOD SHOWS US MERCY IN HIS KINGDOM

v 17, 18 But from everlasting to everlasting the loving devotion of The LORD extends to those who fear Him, and His righteousness to their children’s children—o those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.

v19 The LORD has established His throne in heaven, And His kingdom rules over all.

SO WE BLESS THE LORD GOD

His Angels Bless Him

v20 Bless The LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command.

His Mighty Armies Bless Him

v21 Bless the LORD, all His hosts, you servants who do His will.

His Creation Blesses Him

v22 Bless The LORD, all His works in all places of His dominion. Bless The LORD, O my soul!

BLESS THE LORD - Matt Redman

GOODNESS OF GOD - Bethel Music

Blessed Be The Name of The Lord

 

JOHN 12:13
They took branches and went out to meet Him, shouting:
"Hosanna!" "Blessed is He Who comes in The Name of The Lord!" "Blessed is The King of Israel!"

Psalm 118:26
Blessed is He Who comes in The Name of The LORD. From the house of The LORD we bless you.

Psalm 72:17-19
His Name shall endure for ever: His Name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in Him: all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be The LORD God, The God of Israel, Who alone does marvelous deeds. And blessed be His glorious Name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.

Revelation 7:9-10
After this I looked and saw a multitude too large to count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

    Blessed be The Name of The Lord. Not a suggestion, nor a special request, but a command: a command to Bless His Name. More than just lip service, blessing God requires heart service: a heart that has chosen to be God's home by choosing Christ as Savior. When the command is obeyed, it is obeyed with joy and love. Irrepressible Joy: Joy that cannot be contained but must be shouted! Love that compels a person to testify of the wonderful things God has done for them. 

    How can we bless God? Psalm 68:26 tells us to kneel before God when we are in His congregations, whether we are in a church building, a home church, an outdoor gathering. Wherever God's people come together to worship and praise God and share His Word, then that is where we Bless God. 

    We bless God when we obey His Word. The first commandment in the OT is to put God first. If you say you put God first but don't obey Him in any other commandments, then the first commandment has already been broken. In the NT Jesus responds to the question of the greatest commandment with this reply, " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"

    We bless God when we love the people around us. They may not even be likeable but neither were we when we lived a life without God. Now that God lives in us, we learn to love like God: unconditionally, putting no requirements on anyone; fully, all encompassing, loving everyone we know and meet, whether or not they want to receive the love we have to offer. 

    We bless God when we are not offended and take no offense. This is a hard thing to do but The Word teaches us that to be like Jesus we must be like Jesus. He was silent when accused (Matthew 26:62, 63; Matthew 27:12; Isaiah 53:7).  He was honest and spoke Truth when confronted regarding His Authority to speak on the Scriptures. He is compassionate when faced with they who need healing, feeding and to be clothed, whether in the physical or the spiritual. 

    We bless God when we read and study and pray over and through and in His written Word. We want to know Him better so we ask Him to reveal Himself to us in His Word. 

    We bless God when we come to Him in prayer, bringing not only our own needs, but the needs of others. We bless God when we choose His companionship in prayer, wanting only to spend time with Him; choosing silent lips and a quiet heart and mind that we may hear Him with clarity when He speaks. 

    These are but a few of the ways we can bless God. What are other ways? 

GIVE ME JESUS - Fernando Ortega

BLESSED BE YOUR NAME

To Bless God vs To Be Blessed By God - BARAK

Differentiating Between Being Blessed By God and Blessing God

Whereas the word Bless when used towards mankind is usually read as "Blessed is the man, the one, are they", when the phrase is on the other foot, we read "Blessed be the name of the LORD" or "Bless the LORD". 

To be blessed by God is to receive from God. To bless God is to give to God. 

When God blesses us, His Word tells us and those who know us that we are happy in God, that we are to be envied by those who know us. Our relationship to God through Christ should cause others who do not have this relationship to be hungry and thirsty for what we have. 

When we bless God, we are worshiping God. There are several different aspects of worship we must consider when we are directed to Bless God. The first is:

BARAK

For instance, in Job 1:21, when Job chooses to worship God instead of resorting to woe and commiseration, it is not that he is not devastated upon the loss of his children and his wealth, it is that He knows all of his blessings came from God and God is still God: 
And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” 

In that verse BLESSED is translated from the Hebraic word BARAK, which means to kneel. Job knelt before the LORD and worshiped God. While there are many times, this definition occurs, it is important to note that it is not only people who kneel before God, but all His hosts and all His works, as well (Psalm 103:22).

And, even more than our physical self kneeling, our soul is bless God in this way -- Psalm 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed in splendor and majesty.

Even the enemies of God will kneel before Him. Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue confess to God. And, again, in Philippians 2:10, 11 'That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.'

When Paul is suffering for the cause of Christ, he reminds the church in Ephesus not to feel bad for him, because "For this cause (his tribulations) I bow my knees unto the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Ephesians 3:14, 15. Paul knelt before God in worship for the opportunity to suffer for Him! This should be how we face trials and tribulations in this world: on our knees with humility and praise, as Paul reminds them and us in the rest of the Book of Ephesians. 

My Redeemer Lives by Nicole C. Mullin

A Christian Nation

     If we truly were a Christian nation, then people from other countries and cultures, who flee their nation's governments and sanctions, would embrace Christianity as a way of life. But America is not a Christian nation.

And it never will be.

     Though the early settlers from England fled to this country to escape religious persecution in the hopes of having religious freedom, their desire to be self-governing outweighed it. Man is essentially fluid by nature. He changes sides as often as he changes clothes. His viewpoint on what is allowed and what is not seldom lines up with God's viewpoint on the same subject.



     How many of us can truthfully say that we are submissive to our government?, as stated in 1 Peter2:13-16 - "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God."
      And, yet, here we are, rising up against our President because we disagree with his policies. This is an election year: if you don't want him in office, vote him out. But while he is still in office, we are to pray for him. This may sound silly to most of you, but it is true. How often are you praying for God's direction in your President's decisions? I must admit, that I for one, have fallen short of this word from God. 1 Timothy 2:1,2 - "I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." Sounds radical, does it not?



           Deuteronomy 28 still stands. The Word of God is for everyone; not only are the blessings of God available to those who believe and obey, but the curses of God are available for those who do not believe and who refuse to obey. It is this disobedience to God's Word and God's Will that brings the curse of God into nations and onto people. Hearing the Word of God and obeying the Word of God are two different tasks set before us. To obtain the blessings of God, a person must do both. Do you want God's will for your life? Do you want God's will for your country? Your nation?
Now is the time to get down on our knees and repent of our willfulness and selfish desires. Now is the time to seek God's face and receive God's forgiveness for the wickedness of our hearts and the blood on our hands. Today is the day of salvation and deliverance. Now is the time to pray for our leaders. The clock ticks, time passes, it is another day. O Lord, forgive us for disobeying Your Word and refusing to walk in Your Will.
      Deuteronomy 28:1,2 "And it shall come to pass, if you will listen diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord thy God will set you on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you will hear the voice of the Lord thy God." These words were spoken by Moses to the Israelites, just before Moses' death. But, remember, God's Word is still alive and vibrant. Though Israel will always be God's first love, because the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, Christ's followers (disciples) were able to spread the Gospel of salvation first to the Jewish nation, then to the outlying countries. God's people are the people who hear God's Word and obey God's Word and walk in God's laws, God's will.
     The holy nation of which God speaks does not as yet have a solid place of ground on which to build. That time is not yet. Real Christians, people who follow Christ's example and walk in God's laws, people who hear God's Word and obey God's commandments, these people make up the Christian nation, the holy nation of whom God speaks of in 1 Peter 2:9,10 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,a peculiar people; that you would show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light: Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

      I want God's blessing on my life. Do you? Let us pray.